As Chris Bailey from The Saints sang: "And I'm stranded on my own, stranded far from home, all right".

But it's not alright.

Earlier this month the Australian government announced it would put millions aside for loans for Australians stuck overseas.

On September 2, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said more than 23,000 Australians had registered as citizens overseas who want to come home, a 4200 increase in the past two weeks. Almost 3500 of those are considered vulnerable.

On Thursday night, senior Prime Minister and Cabinet officials were quizzed at the Senate's coronavirus response inquiry and disorder reigned.

Initially the inquiry was told 35,700 people were registered but an hour later that was revised down to 26,800.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Frances Adamson said the higher number included people registered who did not necessarily want to come back to Australia.

Now meet six Aussies who want so dearly to come home. They are at in corners of the world and for one reason or another they're stranded.

James Cater feels helpless and believes the Australian Government has abandoned him. The 29-year-old from Shoalhaven Heads has been stranded in Russia since March.

James has tried to book a ticket home with a number of airlines and all of his flights have been cancelled, usually only a few days before departure.

He now has a flight home booked for December 1 - the only affordable flight available, but it is one day before his Russian visa extension expires. Read more for the South Coast Register here

When the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told all Australians abroad to make their way home in March, Gina De Ruytor faced a dilemma.

Months earlier, she'd started the Malapascua Paw Heroes Animal Shelter in the Philippines to care for stray cats and dogs. She was looking after 35 animals when the directive came down. "It was really an ethical question," Ms De Ruytor said.

But then she broke her leg in two places. Since then, she's been scrambling to get back to Australia. Read more from The Canberra Times here

As if breaking eight bones and watching medical bills swell in a foreign land wasn't bad enough, experiencing all that in a pandemic has pushed one Aussie woman to the limit.

Alanda Packer and her boyfriend were coming to the end of a two-year stay in Canada on working holiday visas when their flight home was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Waiting for new arrangements to be made, Ms Packer's life changed in an instant a fortnight later when she was involved in a serious quad bike crash. Read more here.

When Jeremy Sadler said goodbye to his wife in July before she flew to the United Kingdom to support her seriously ill mother, he never imagined they would still be apart three months later.

But he's now facing the prospect of spending Christmas away from his wife of 34 years as she has joined 27,000 Australian citizens stranded overseas by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pam Sadler flew to England in July after gaining special exemption to visit her 73-year-old mother who was facing a possible leg amputation due to complications with blood cancer.

"It is a horrible situation - and we're powerless," said Mr Sadler. Read more here

Depressed, fearful and increasingly desperate, Canberran Emely Navarro Altamirano doesn't see a realistic way home.

Ms Navarro Altamirano is one of the 23,000 Australians registered with DFAT who want to come home. That number is steadily growing. It's up almost 25 per cent from a fortnight ago. About 3500 of those are considered vulnerable.

She has been stuck in the small South American country for months - she arrived in March before the air travel shutdown - and getting back to Australia seems an impossible feat, even before you look at the price tag. Read more from The Canberra Times

A Lake Macquarie woman stranded with her husband and five children in the UK has become a voice for fellow Australians stuck overseas due to passenger caps on international arrivals.

Deanne Vowels addressed the Senate inquiry into Australians seeking repatriation on Thursday, describing how a five-week holiday turned into a six-month nightmare due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Ms Vowels said they had been bumped from their flight back home in August, two days beforehand.

"The possibility is real that we may lose our home, our jobs and our everything due to a single policy that is keeping us out of the country," she told the inquiry. Read more from the Newcastle Herald